There’s a conversation making the rounds about Gen Z and job interviews.
You may have seen it: stories about young candidates showing up to interviews with iced coffees, dressing casually, or approaching the interview with an attitude that some Millennials and Gen X hiring managers find jarring.
I understand the reaction.
I have been a hiring manager for a long time. Throughout my career, I have hired and onboarded approximately 75 people, from entry-level interns to senior staff and organizational leaders.
I have interviewed plenty of candidates who knew exactly how to “do” an interview.
They had the right clothes. The polished handshake. The practiced answers. The carefully constructed responses to “What is your greatest weakness?”
And some of them were wonderful employees.
But some of the best people I have ever hired were not the best interviewers.
Some were nervous. Some were unconventional. Some had little relevant work experience. Some were applying for jobs that were technically below their educational level because that was the only opportunity we had available.
What they did have was something I could work with.
Curiosity.
Passion.
Humor.
Work ethic.
A willingness to learn.
And, sometimes, a very specific kind of weirdness that made me think, I need this person in my museum.
Here are some of the young people who convinced me to take a chance on them.
The candidate who finally admitted he just wanted a chance
One of the most memorable candidates I ever interviewed had a master’s degree and was applying for an entry-level position.
His previous work experience included delivering pizza and working at a grocery store. He also had solid internship experience, but his professional résumé didn’t exactly scream “future museum leader.”
He arrived wearing a sport coat and tie.
For an entry-level museum position.
He was clearly uncomfortable. And nervous.
The interview was fine, but I could tell he was struggling with the process.
At the end, I asked the standard question:
“Do you have any questions for me?”
Instead of asking about benefits, advancement opportunities, or what a typical day looked like, he looked at me and said:
“I’ve been interviewing for two years. I know I don’t interview well. I spent so much money on my education. I just want a chance to use my degree.”
That was it.
I hired him.
Not because he had given a flawless interview.
Because he had told me something important.
He had been trying for two years.
He knew he wasn’t good at interviewing.
And he still kept showing up.
He deserved a chance.
It turned out to be one of the best hiring decisions I ever made.
He became one of the best employees I have ever hired. He was loyal. Dedicated. Smart. And eager to grow.
We put him into several different roles to figure out where his strengths were best utilized. Within a few months, he had grown into a site leadership position.
What did he need?
Confidence.
Coaching.
And someone willing to give him a chance.
Sometimes that’s what young employees need most.
The candidate whose favorite historical event was the Third Defenestration of Prague
When I interviewed candidates for historic-site positions, I developed a question I loved:
“What’s your favorite era in history?”
It was partly a way to get people talking about something they actually cared about.
And partly a test.
If you’re going to be a tour guide, I want to know whether you can make me care about history.
One candidate answered:
“The Third Defenestration of Prague.”
Okay.
Not the first or second defenestration…but the third.
Now you have my attention.
She proceeded to explain the event with such enthusiasm and passion that I barely needed to ask another question.
She told the story.
Not recited it.
Not gave me the Wikipedia version.
She told it.
There was energy in her voice. She understood the political dynamics involved. She understood the drama. She understood why the story was interesting.
I remember thinking:
This person is going to be a great tour guide.
And she was.
Sometimes the best indicator of whether someone can engage an audience isn’t a résumé.
It’s whether they can make you want to hear the rest of the story.
The high school student who made her own World War II uniforms
Another candidate was a high school student applying for an internship.
Asking a teenager about hobbies can produce some fairly predictable answers.
Sports. Music. Friends. Video games.
Not this young woman.
She told me she belonged to a group of female World War II reenactors.
And her hobby was making historically accurate reproduction uniforms for their weekend reenactment camps.
That answer told me almost everything I needed to know.
She wasn’t just interested in history.
She cared about accuracy.
She cared enough to spend her free time researching clothing, materials, construction and historical details—and then actually making the uniforms herself.
That level of passion can’t be taught easily.
You can teach someone how to use a collections database.
You can teach them museum procedures.
You can teach them how to lead a tour.
But you can’t manufacture genuine curiosity.
I wanted that person in our museum. She is awesome!
The future paleontologist
Another internship candidate was planning to major in paleontology.
During the interview, he started talking about Illinois fossils.
And suddenly the interview wasn’t really an interview anymore.
He became animated.
His voice changed. He was excited. He knew things I didn’t know. He had clearly spent time learning about something simply because he found it fascinating.
I remember thinking:
We need to find a place for this kid.
That is one of the great advantages of working in museums.
There are people who walk through our doors who are intensely curious about something—and sometimes our job is to figure out how to harness that curiosity.
He needed a place to put his enthusiasm.
We had one.
The master’s degree graduate who applied for an entry-level job
Another young woman had recently earned her master’s degree and applied for an entry-level position.
It wasn’t necessarily the job she should have been applying for based on her education.
But it was what we had open.
And our museum happened to be in her hometown.
Her academic record was stellar.
She had also set sports records at her local high school.
But what really caught my attention was what she was doing with technology.
She was developing a program designed to educate people about African American history after Reconstruction.
She wasn’t waiting for someone to give her permission to do interesting work.
She was already doing it.
So I hired her.
It didn’t take long for her to grow into an education and community outreach role.
Again, the résumé told only part of the story.
The interview revealed what she was capable of becoming.
The construction worker who could do almost anything
One of my favorite hires was a slightly older member of Gen Z who had a young family. She was working to save money so that she could return to school and study history.
Her previous work experience?
Construction. Plumbing, specifically.
That wasn’t a problem for me.
In fact, I considered it an asset.
She was effervescent.
Animated.
Funny.
And extremely likable.
But beneath all of that was something even more important:
She was not afraid of hard work.
She became an excellent tour guide.
But she could also jump into almost anything.
Gardening cleanup?
Sure.
Bartending a museum event?
Absolutely.
Cleaning the museum when our housekeeping staff was on leave?
She did it.
She never seemed to think that a task was beneath her.
And no matter what role she was playing, she was a delight to have around.
Her attitude raised the morale of the people around her.
That’s an employee you want to keep.
The guy who carried tables down a silver mine
Another candidate didn’t have museum experience.
He worked at a tourist attraction that happened to be an old silver mine.
During the interview, I asked him about a time he had to solve a problem at work.
He told me about setting up for a dinner theater event.
The event was sold out.
Equipment had been rented.
Tables and chairs had been delivered.
And then they discovered a problem:
The tables wouldn’t fit in the elevator.
So he carried them down the stairs.
What I remember most wasn’t the problem.
It was the way he told the story.
He laughed about it.
He didn’t make himself out to be the hero.
He didn’t complain about the ridiculousness of the situation.
He simply told me what happened, how they figured it out, and laughed as he remembered carrying those tables down the mine.
That told me something important.
He could find humor in a difficult situation.
And he could solve the problem in front of him.
Those are two skills that don’t always show up on a résumé.
They are also two skills I value enormously in an employee.
Hiring isn’t about finding perfect people
I don’t want to dismiss the importance of professionalism.
There are absolutely things candidates should understand about interviewing.
Show up prepared.
Do your homework.
Dress appropriately for the organization and position.
Be respectful of the interviewer’s time.
Communicate clearly.
And understand that an interview is an opportunity to demonstrate that you understand the professional environment you’re trying to enter.
But I also think hiring managers have a responsibility.
We aren’t supposed to be looking for perfect people.
We’re supposed to be looking for people who can contribute, learn, grow and become valuable members of the organization.
Especially when we’re hiring young people, we have to remember that we’re often interviewing someone who hasn’t had much opportunity to learn the unwritten rules of professional life.
Maybe they don’t know exactly how to interview.
Maybe they’re nervous.
Maybe they’re overcompensating.
Maybe they don’t have the right clothes.
Maybe they don’t have 10 years of experience because, well, they’re 22.
That’s where good managers come in.
You can teach someone how to write a professional email.
You can teach them how to dress for a board meeting.
You can coach them through public speaking.
You can teach them museum procedures, customer service, project management and organizational politics.
You can help someone build confidence.
You can’t easily teach genuine curiosity.
You can’t manufacture passion.
You can’t put resilience on someone’s résumé.
And you can’t teach someone to care.
Give young people a chance to surprise you
Every one of these young people had something that made me believe they could become something more.
Some needed confidence.
Some needed coaching.
Some needed professional experience.
Some needed someone to recognize that the unconventional thing they had done was actually an asset.
And some simply needed someone to say:
“Yes. I’ll give you a chance.”
I know these young people have bright futures.
Not because they interviewed perfectly.
Because I’ve watched what happens when someone gives them an opportunity and then invests in them.
That’s the part of the Gen Z hiring conversation I think we sometimes miss.
Young workers aren’t finished products.
Neither were Millennials when they started their careers.
Neither was Gen X.
None of us were.
Someone gave us a chance.
Someone taught us something.
Someone overlooked our awkwardness and saw potential.
And eventually, if we were lucky, someone trusted us enough to let us lead.
So yes, Gen Z candidates should learn how to interview.
But employers should remember something, too:
The candidate sitting nervously across from you may not be the finished product.
They may be the person who, with a little confidence, coaching and opportunity, becomes one of the best people you’ve ever hired.
Give Generation Z a chance.
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